Kyle Busch Interview

Kyle Busch: Auto Interview

You’ve been in NASCAR basically your entire life. Do you think you’ll ever compete in any other racing events (rally/Champ/Indy)? I’d love to do a couple one-off deals, not full-time like I am here. I think this is a good place to be, I really like it here; it’s fun, it’s enjoyable, it’s a big challenge for sure. But I’d love to give a one-off race, or a test, to Formula One; maybe run the Indy 500 somewhere down the road when I get a little older, or when I’ve done all the things I want to do in NASCAR.

What advice can you offer the average guy who wants to get into racing and driving? What steps should he take? For me, when I did it, I just kept digging hard, kept trying the best I could. You gotta be the best at every level that you’re at in order to move to the next level. And whether it’s on your own dime or whether it’s on somebody else’s that’ll give you a chance in their car, you’ve gotta be the best, you’ve gotta get recognized and be brought up. You gotta be winning races and trying your hardest and always thinking about how to make it better: your car, yourself and ultimately just winning races.

Besides driving technique, do you need to condition your body before a race? I used to work out all the time (laughs), and I quit working out and started winning races a lot more. You try to stay reasonably healthy and drink water, Powerades, Gatorades, not a lot of soda — even though I love Coke. I haven’t had one in a week so I’m sorta craving one.

I try to eat healthy a little bit. My girlfriend, she’s really good at being able to cook healthy because she’s sort of a health nut herself, she knows how to cook with better oils and less this or less that and stuff. She did a good job of building me fat, but now I’m sort of stabilized and I’m doing alright just trying to eat reasonably healthy.

Kyle Busch is the youngest Rookie of the Year winner in Sprint Cup history.

Do you have a special diet or something specific you’ll eat just before a race? Carbs are energy, but you can’t just fill up on that because those “fill” you. The perfect [meal] would be grilled chicken, broccoli or green beans and mashed potatoes. That would be the ultimate race meal because it gives you everything: it gives you protein, gives you carbs, gives you energy. Besides that, I’ll eat anything before a race, really. I try to stay away from red meat just because that kind of makes you feel dull. [I’ll go for] everything that makes you feel a little bit lighter and have a little bit more energy.

You obviously have driving skills on the track, but how do you apply what you’ve learned on the track to everyday driving on the street? The biggest thing is all reaction. Race car drivers — I guess there was as a study done — have a 33% better reaction time than most drivers out there on the road. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad. We can make a move quick to keep us outta trouble, but we get somebody behind us who can’t keep up and they’ll hit us. To me, the biggest thing is reaction and looking ahead, understanding what’s coming up next. A lot of people drive off their hood pin. They don’t look out in front of them and see what’s going on.

What advice can you offer the average driver to make him a better/safer driver? Work on reaction and look ahead to think ahead. You can see what’s coming. I always have an escape route! If I’m in the middle lane on a freeway and I got two guys next to me, I’m either gonna speed up or roll out of it in order to get an escape route. I’ve always got an escape route to get somewhere!

What driving law do you wish was in place on the roads today? Probably a faster speed limit for the left lane (laughs). Like, 10 over is OK.

Which car do you have parked in your garage right now? My daily driver is a Lexus 460. It’s a manufacturer’s vehicle from Toyota given to me. I love it. I used to have a BMW and I like it better than that. I like the Lexus a lot — I’ve also got a Toyota Tundra; it’s nice to have a truck.

If money truly weren’t an object, which car would you own? My dream car is a Saleen S7. It’s made by Saleen in California; it’s basically America’s Ferrari. I’ve never had a chance to drive it — I’ve only seen one from 20 feet away, but maybe one day!

Who is the most influential man you can think of? One that I’m most familiar with — actually there’s two; Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Those are the two that I’ve spent the most time around and they are pretty influential because ultimately we’re chasin’ after them, wanting to become what they are. I would go with Jimmie just because he’s the past three-time champ — looks to be like a fourth.